Prisoners of a 71-Second War Bowed Their Heads For The Exact Time Shots Rang Out At Twin Peaks on May 17, 2015. At right is Sandra Lynch, who called for the 71 seconds of silence. (wearing yellow)
“…But today you just read that the man was shot dead by a gun that didn’t make any noise…” – Traffic, “The Low Spark Of The High-Heeled Boys”
Waco – Judy Bergman said it best. “These guys are innocent,” she said, and it’s true. Her husband “Scooter” of Desgraciados MC had every chance in the world to plead guilty, and he refused.
He didn’t want to tell that lie. He went to a political meeting and wound up in jail for 20 days under a $1 million bond before reaching a bond reduction to $80,000.
“Juntos Estamos” proclaims a patch on Scooter Bergman’s vest
Years later, the prosecution gave him a chance to walk away if he would just say he was guilty of assault, felony, misdemeanor, whatever. He refused.
“That would have been the first lie I told,” he said.
Then the judge ordered him to keep his mouth shut pending the production of further evidence in a federal trial of yet other defendants charged with other offenses tried in a court more than 200 miles distant, in a different jurisdiction.
Bergman recalled how he begged a deputy to uncuff a man bleeding from a gunshot wound to his arm so he could apply a tourniquet. The reply: “Stop your whining or you’re going to jail.” He did, for 20 Days in the Jack Harwell Detention Center.
And so they gathered on the steps of the McLennan County Courthouse to smile and shake hands and commemorate a 71-second war in which shots from battle rifles wielded by Waco Police and DPS agents rang out under the decreased muzzle blast provided by “suppressors,” a military term for silencers.
Sandra Lynch had people remember just how long 71 seconds lasts
A survivor of the quiet war wield by silent weapons, Sandra Lynch beseeched the small crowd of veterans to bow their heads for 71 seconds, “…so we’ll remember just how long that lasts.”
She and her husband Mike were taken prisoner under the same charge and $1 million bond after members of the Cossacks MC ran over her foot as she confronted them in preparation for a Confederation of Clubs Meeting – a political meeting.
Police charged no one for that vehicular assault on her person, just as no one faced charges for stabbings, beatings, attacks with ball peen and claw hammers, and other assorted mayhem in the months leading up to the blood bath that left 9 dead, 20 wounded, and 177 under arrest for the vague offense of “engaging in organized criminal activity.”
When the one trial held on any of the indictments came, Jake Carrizal found himself acquitted by a worn-out and bewildered jury who signaled the judge they didn’t need to hear any more evidence.
Truth was, they had heard no evidence of exactly how the Dallas Bandido President had caused the murder or aggravated assault of anyone – anyone at all. They said they were ready to go home; they couldn’t reach a verdict after 5 weeks of testimony by “gang experts,” medical examiners, and firearms experts who were not allowed to present their evidence because it would have been hearsay for an ATF Agent to present evidence based on a Waco Police report.
So much for that.
The only really definite evidence presented in those five long-suffering weeks was the fact that nine men had died, four of them from gunshot wounds from the rifles of three Waco Police Officers.
“Popeye” Moss of Sons Of Liberty Riders MC addresses the crowd
Now three men formerly indicted with an offense of engaging in organized criminal activity are charged with the murders previously attributed to police who fired in the name of law and order and received no true bill of indictment from a Grand Jury.
The rest of the 25 indictments for various degrees of the misdemeanor offense of rioting aggravated by enhancements involving degrees of mayhem and assault are familiar names, most of whom fired in self defense – or didn’t, as the case may be.
One shudders to think of the complication of the jury instructions that will no doubt result should those cases come to trial.
The verdict of the people who lived through the ordeal: “As everyone knows, the Federal Government has trampled on the rights of the people charged at Twin Peaks,” said Sandra Lynch.
Mel “Popeye” Moss, president of the DFW Sons of Liberty Riders MC, said in an introductory speech that motorcycle profiling is a terrifying prospect, especially when you consider, “This guy who pulled you over thinks you are suspicious, that you’re probably a criminal, and who does he report it to? Some Fusion Center way down the highway…Those are the people who organized this whole thing, the Fusion Center.”
The multi-agency task force Fusion Center is indeed a creature of the Department of Homeland Security, staffed with DPS, local police, federal agents – a clearing house for information of all types in the Global War On Terror, gang task forces, narcotics squads of all descriptions, and military responders from the Joint Special Operations Command to the FBI, CIA and the rest of the “intelligence community” so tasked by the Patriot Act since the 9/11 attacks of 2001.
Judy Bergman, wife of Desgraciado “Scooter”
Said Judy Bergman, whose husband refused to tell a lie on himself, “All of them (law enforcement officers )are the gangs, and you can see that the way they’re dropping these cases.”
It’s true about the cases. There were 154 outstanding just a few weeks ago. All that is one for the history books, now.
As the observers and veterans of the 71-second “quiet war” brought their third year anniversary meeting to a close, a U.S. District Court jury returned a verdict of guilty on all charges in a multiple count indictment of former Bandidos U.S.A. President and Vice President Jeffrey Pike and John Portillo in San Antonio.
Their guilt was proved up to the jurors by prosecutors who relied upon the testimony of their former associates, also members of the Bandidos, who agreed to testify in return for a guilty plea and the expectation of lighter sentencing on narcotics, murder conspiracy and other serious federal offenses.
All including Pike and Portillo, are yet to be sentenced following their allocution hearings to be held in the future.
So ends the operation one very aggressive and very effective defense counsel termed a “frontal assault on the Constitution” by Elected Criminal District Attorney Abel Reyna.
So mote it be.
- Legendary
Lauren Daugherty, candidate to replace Justice of the Peace “Pete” Peterson (2nd from L) has her associates respond with “YES” At right is Mark Tippets, Libertarian Candidate for Governor of Texas
http://www.stopthecrime.net/docs/SILENT%20WEAPONS%20for%20QUIET%20WARS.pdf